![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21-Questions-Chapter-Twenty-Four-Image.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I head back to the Core complex, singularly focused. The feeling I get when I step inside my apartment is both novel and familiar. I eventually got used to Michaela’s absence back at our apartment so returning to an empty flat isn’t all that new, but a small, habitual part of me was expecting Nyx to come running to my feet. This new, complete solitude will definitely take some getting used to.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I pace around rather aimlessly for a bit, like I need to physically and mentally decompress from being around a certain someone before I can even think of functioning. I exhale, kicking off my heels and changing into more comfortable house clothes before getting started on the task at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the next several hours, I go over all the Z to A project files and documents multiple times, intent on being as thorough as possible. Each run-through makes it easier to come up with a good, sizable list of questions; some for clarity and others integrated with alternative suggestions for safer, more environmentally friendly options\u2014particularly for the drilling phases.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though I’m the one who suggested this project briefing, I’d rather have him just abort the damn thing in its entirety. Frankly, that<\/em> would be my ultimate suggestion.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There isn’t a part of me that doesn’t wish I didn’t have to work on this account\u2026but I can’t deny that meeting the man at its center was nothing short of breathtaking.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n His reputation doesn’t just precede him.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It falls short<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A combination of self-imposed homework, too much coffee, and my mind going rogue every so often with thoughts of golden wolf eyes ensures I fall asleep at a very late, unknown hour.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A loud vibration jolts me out of a dead slumber, my eyes cracking open suddenly at the invasive sound. I squint impulsively through heavy, swollen eyelids, reaching for its source.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hold my phone up to my ear with all the enthusiasm of a toddler going to the dentist, every muscle in my body aching.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I fell asleep on the floor, I realize, project files and documents sprawled about.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Hello?” I say begrudgingly, annoyed at whoever it is on the other end for interrupting my sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Good morning, Miss Myers,” a familiar voice says, and I realize it belongs to Hank, the residential manager. “Your car is waiting downstairs to take you to work.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I bring the phone away from my ear, my eyes darting to the little digital clock…and they almost fall out of my face.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, shit<\/em>!” I blurt, praying the hushed, panicked curse doesn\u2019t make its way into the receiver, jumping to my feet like I’ve been possessed. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be right down,” I add before hanging up, practically flinging the device onto the table as I sprint to the bathroom.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh, my God…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My briefing with Zane is in twenty minutes!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fuck, I can’t believe I slept through my alarm.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I race around the apartment like a ricocheting bullet in a metal cage, somehow managing to give myself some semblance of presentability in my crazed rush, almost falling flat on my face in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Five minutes later, I’m sprinting out of the building and into the familiar town car waiting for me in front of it.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m so sorry I’m late, Edgar,” I pant as I as I close the door.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s quite alright, ma’am,” he smiles, putting the car in drive.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We pull up to HQ ten minutes later, my heart hammering as I glance at my watch for the millionth time.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh God, this is \u043d\u0435\u0442<\/em> a good look; showing up late for my very<\/em> first meeting with my new boss\u2014the damn CEO, no less.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A meeting \u044f<\/em> proposed.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And after Ren\u00e9e stressed so much on punctuality yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I can’t believe I overslept. And of all<\/em> the times for it to happen!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mr. Zane has prepared a pass for you to access his office,” Edgar says as the car comes to a stop, handing me a sleek, metallic card.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thank you so much,” I smile, grateful for his understanding of both my tardiness and scattered disposition, literally running out of the car. I make a dash for the top floor, my lungs on fire as I impatiently watch the metal wall descend. The glass door is wide open when I arrive, and I stagger into Zane\u2019s office, damn near tripping over my own feet in a flustered rush.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seven-thirty on the dot.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I take in a deep breath, straightening my spine, hoping I didn’t just sweat through my clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Good morning, sir,” I say, approaching his desk timidly.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Good morning,” he replies measuredly, his eyes latching onto mine from behind it, the intensity of his stare spawning a colony of goosebumps all over my skin, augmenting its already flushed condition.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The simple, generic greeting is a complete contrast to the energy he gives off. To the absolute power in his unrelenting gaze. And I have to do my<\/em> absolute damnedest not to let it throw<\/em> me off.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He puts away the folder in front of him. “Are you ready for the briefing?”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes,” I nod, trying to compose myself as he gestures for me to take the seat opposite him. \u201cI created a questionnaire to streamline the process. I hope that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n His expression remains fixed. \u201cThat\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I clear my throat nervously, pulling out my file, my heart beating faster. Even with my focus on the documents in front of me, I can feel the heat of his gaze on my body, his feral eyes like flames tasked with the sole purpose of incinerating anything in their line of vision.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And right now, that’s \u043c\u043d\u0435<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Silence trickles on, punctuated by the rustling of papers, and I decide to just dive right in, unable to take this heavy, overbearing tension.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I lift the questionnaire, keeping my eyes on it as I intentionally avoid his.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “All right,\u201d I begin. \u201cFirst question: When was the last time you had sex?”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as the words leave my lips, they resound in my ears…and it takes me a minute to register what I just said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Without thinking, my eyes dart back up to Zane’s, awareness belatedly creeping in through stunned confusion as my brain catches up with my voice.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They flit back to the paper in my hands, widening as they land on the words I just read out loud.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I realize I’m not looking at my Z to A questionnaire.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a heightened sense of foreboding, my gaze travels to the very top of the page…and my heart literally stops.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 21 \u0432\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n THE X-RATED<\/em> EDITION<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>***<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I head back to the Core complex, singularly focused. The feeling I get when I step inside my apartment is both novel and familiar. I eventually got used to Michaela’s absence back at our apartment so returning to an empty flat isn’t all that new, but a small, habitual part of me was expecting Nyx to come running to my feet. This new, complete solitude will definitely take some getting used to. I pace around rather aimlessly for a bit, like I need to physically and… \u0427\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0435<\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,93],"tags":[],"series":[108],"class_list":["post-5817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary-2","category-romance","series-21-questions"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21-Questions-Cover-Image.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21-Questions-Cover-Image-300x200.jpg","large":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21-Questions-Cover-Image.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5817"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=5817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21-Questions-Page-Chapter-Heading-Image-232x300.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n